That headline probably has you thinking about things like minimum nights required for some properties or number of people in a room or maybe even the days when an offer is/isn’t valid.

But what I want to address today is not the message, but the audience.

Because i think we’ve stopped selling something to people who, I believe, would be more than willing to buy.

An Epic Lesson
In a way, where my mind goes with this is the inverse of the Epic Pass concept.

A decade ago, the idea of selling a season pass outside of a certrain georgraphic radius was unheard of. Why? Because the message we were sending – “ski 10-15 days and the pass pays for itself” – doesn’t resonate for anyone but a person who skis 10-15 days. That is to say, locals.

But then Vail Resorts came out and tweaked the product just enough so the message also changed – “ski 5 days and the pass pays for itself” – to the point it resonated for a huge group of people it previously hadn’t made any sense to; destination guests.

@lindsayhkahn have you considered the Epic Pass? It pays for itself in just over 5 days on the mountain. https://t.co/lxfM7azY8v

— Park City (@PCski) November 29, 2015

And, just like that, Vail was selling boatloads of passes in markets we’d never expect a passholder to be found.

Inside That Radius
Typically, lodging offers are geared toward folks outside of a certain drive radius. But what if the limit we removed from lodging offers wasn’t fine print but the geographic radii we market to?

Well, that message, like the Epic Pass’s message, would have to be different, right?

Maybe we’d be talking about quick escapes and overnighters. Single nights instead of long stays. Maybe you’d have stuff that’s available in the evening you could use to drive interest (zip lines, gondola, etc.) but maybe we’d have to talk more about about things like:

• The fun of staying in a hotel room (if you have small kids, you understand)
• Cooler temps
• Peace and quiet
• An escape from the grind
• Swimming pools
• Short hiking/biking/walking trails
• New restaurants

If reframing the price/value message helped Vail sell season passes to Floridians, something tells me a clever combination of price and perks could absolutely fill your hotel rooms with locals.

What if…
Wny not give it a shot? Look at your rates, find an offer that makes sense, and dust off the segment that’s exclusively locals. Maybe that copy would go something like:

ESCAPE-FROM-THE-CITY OVERNIGHTER
Wake Up to This Tomorrow
Need a mini vacation? A quick break from the grind and heat? Stay at the Lodge at Snowvailmore for just $89 any night this week and fall asleep with the Aglet River flowing just outside your window. The pool is open until 11pm, wildflowers are peaking on the hiking trails, and a free take-and-eat breakfast will get you back to work right on time and refreshed.

Toss in a live look at your Prism cam, maybe the current temp, and hit send. Would this sort of offer fall flat on it’s face? Maybe.

Then again…if a family can spend $100 at the local water park on a Wednesday night or a couple can spend $200 on a Thursday night date or a citydweller is gonna drive a couple hours after work on Tuesday to escape the bustle anyway…maybe not.

About Gregg & SlopeFillers
I've had more first-time visitors lately, so adding a quick "about" section. I started SlopeFillers in 2010 with the simple goal of sharing great resort marketing strategies. Today I run marketing for resort ecommerce and CRM provider Inntopia, my home mountain is the lovely Nordic Valley, and my favorite marketing campaign remains the Ski Utah TV show that sold me on skiing as a kid in the 90s.